


Reconciliation

by AdventurousScientist (Tuiteyfruity)



Series: Mystic Woods [3]
Category: Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Patricia Wrede, Original Work
Genre: Blood, Gen, Giant/Tiny, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, MIND THE TAGS:, Non-sexual vore, Soft Vore, Whump, giant tiny - Freeform, gianttiny, gt vore, safe vore, sfw g/t, sfw vore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:00:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21897070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tuiteyfruity/pseuds/AdventurousScientist
Summary: (SFW GT M/m and then M/f platonic safe/soft vore)Mostly-spoiler free Summary: based on an old ask “What happens if a thief leaves a sword inside of Yonah?” which became a story that is incredibly crucial for plot/character development. Set early in Yonah and Sophia’s relationship, they are far from friends. Sophia is scared of and hates Yonah. Yonah, hated Sophia too, though at this point he’s ok with her. This is fic involves them starting to reconcile. It’s a high intensity story with a sweet ending!Warnings I don’t want to spoil too much so for detailed warnings go to https://tinyurl.com/t967ff5, but basic warnings are: a lot of fearplay, sort of food-play, some vomit. Yonah is injured and there is description of the wound + blood, very surreal/unreal references/worries about dig-est/tion (of course none occur).
Relationships: Yonah HaEsh & Sophia of Orr
Series: Mystic Woods [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1563316
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	Reconciliation

**Author's Note:**

> I WORKED FOR 7 MONTHS ON THIS!!! I HOPE YOU ENJOY

FEE FI FO FUM

Sophia woke to Yonah’s voice thundering through the tower, and lightning screams following shortly behind. 

Desperate, bloodcurdling screeches of whoever Yonah had caught. Sophia knew those screams well, having filled the tower with her own several times since she arrived. Though since learning he couldn’t digest her, it was mostly in defiance; she knew his ears were sensitive. Whoever’s screams were coming from just outside the bedroom door were soon silenced. 

Swallowed.

Eaten. 

By the Great and Terrible Yonah HaEsh. 

Sophia couldn't get the images out of her head. The thief clawing at Yonah’s tough flesh from within the giant’s stomach. Crying. Begging for mercy. Just like she had done that first time. And subsequent times, even knowing she was safe, knowing he would spit her up. 

He claimed to spits thieves back up. But wizards lie. Evil wizards especially. 

Determination overcoming fear, she scrambled out of her golden cage and ran into the living room, hoping she was not too late. That Yonah had swallowed the thief alive. He should have; she knew from experience how fond he was of a lively bellyfull. 

And indeed, she found the wizard sitting in his armchair, eyes closed, mouth a wicked wide smile complete with a picture perfect drop of drool at one corner. His hand was over his stomach, fingers drumming against it as he chuckled. Having fun, taunting his prey. 

“It’s quite pointless to fight me,” he taunted, “but don’t let that stop you.”

Sophia silently made her way to the side of the chair. But not so silently that Yonah didn’t hear her. Or maybe he smelled her. Who knows. 

The dark eyes of the wizard opened and stared hungrily down before he leaned over and scooped her up. 

/please dont eat me please dont eat me please dont eat me/ 

She didn’t think he would eat her with his belly already occupied, but he was unpredictable and cruel. What if he ate her and didn’t spit up the thief? And she had to sit there as they died? As they were digested?! Her heart beat faster and faster. 

“Glad you could join me, princess; I just had the most lovely meal.” He smiled even wider, showing off his sharp canines. He stroked her back, and she stiffened. 

“I’M STILL HERE YOU BASTARD!!” came the muffled protests of the thief from his middle. Yonah looked down at it fondly. 

He definitely looked full and… oh dear gods, she could see the slight trembling shakes as the thief continued to struggle against the wizard’s gut. 

Fighting back the urge to vomit, Sophia glared into Yonah’s too-happy eyes. 

“Y-You’re going to spit them out... right?” Her voice came out surprisingly loud. 

“WHO WAS THAT!!?” 

Yonah ignored the thief and his smile faltered as he hissed, “Now, don’t go spoiling it my dear princess, or- TSSS.” He winced and held his stomach. 

“Something wrong!?” Sophia didn’t know if she was worried for Yonah or the thief. 

“This Jack’s still got some fight left, that actually hurt,” he said, a single tear forming in the corner of his left eye. Then he saw Sophia’s face, hard and furious. 

“Let them go,” she ordered with a hiss, “NOW” 

There was a moment where Yonah was stunned, and the room was silent except for the screams of the thief. Yonah furrowed his brow in indignation. How dare she order him around! She was his prisoner! But Sophia, rather shakily, stood her ground. Without any warning he took her in a fist. She protested but he held her firmly by his side as he stomped up the stairs to his workshop. He tossed her unceremoniously onto his desk and flashed his eyes. 

“You may want to avert your gaze,” he warned as he leaned over, one hand on his stomach, the other palm flat on the surface of the desk. 

The sound was somehow more horrible from the outside. As soon as Yonah started to retch, Sophia darted behind the mirror. It took nearly half a minute, but when the nauseating sounds of regurgitation transitioned into choking and then hacking coughs, Sophia chanced a glance. 

Sprawled out in a puddle of mucus, stomach fluids, and saliva was the thief. Still breathing. Still alive. And over them loomed a scarlet faced Yonah, strings of spittle still dripping down onto his former victim. 

“Welcome back to the outside world, my little morsel,” he growled as the thief stirred and looked up. Yonah had once more set his eyes ablaze and the thief cowered. 

“Th-thank you- for sparing me-, I- I-” they stammered. They were shaking so violently Sophia was sure they would crumble to pieces!

Hah. Hah. Hah. Hah. 

Yonah’s amusement sent shivers down Sophia’s spine. He was… really good at this. This was an act. Right?

“It is not me you should be thanking, Jack—” he looked at Sophia, whose eyes went wide, “—my sweet little princess couldn’t bear to witness the end of your pointless existence within my bowels.”

/Was he serious?/ She felt a bit faint. 

“A-about that-” The thief tried to form words, but Yonah spoke over them. 

“I suggest you get out while you can,” Yonah said, turning back to Jack, who paused in the middle of standing up “I’m not terribly fond of my princess or her feelings.” He picked up Jack by the shirt collar, carrying them to the window. “She caught me in a rare good mood, which won’t last much longer.” He dropped Jack on the stone ledge, leaning his face in so that his nose nearly touched the human, “Especially now that I’m hungry again, and you were oh so delicious.” That last sentence was in the form of a with a ferocious snarl accompanied by a lick of his lips, a hiss of steam, and his hair sparking softly. 

Jack wasted no time in practically jumping out the window, disappearing into the early dawn.

Leaving Sophia alone once more with an angry half-FireWitch. 

But she would not be intimidated by him. He was her assigned guardian. He could not harm her unless he wanted to be turned into a tree and then cut down and burned to fuel the castle’s furnace. He would make nice, large tree, one that could heat the castle for the entire winter. 

Yonah wiped the spit from his mouth, his hair and eyes extinguishing, and sat at his desk. He leaned back, arms crossed, not taking his eyes from the princess. 

“Next time you want to get involved, don’t fucking let them know they’re going to live,” he huffed, “Ruins the fun.”

He waited for Sophia to gather her thoughts, watching her pace nervously on his desk. That was so adorable. Humans were so adorable, and this one especially so. 

“-act like you’re going to kill them!” She thought out loud, “that’s so… evil!”. 

“That’s kind of the point, princess.” Yonah smirked with an eyebrow raised. “You’ve been here nearly a month and you have yet to realize I’m evil. Was telling you not enough? Was eating you alive without letting you know about the curse and then-”

“OK!” She didn’t want to think about it. “It’s just…” she scuffed her foot on the table, “I really thought you were going to kill them. You- to me, you called them a meal. You spoke about them like they didn’t exist anymore, weren’t a person anymore, just food.”

“Stroke of genius on my part, it scared them really good. You couldn’t see it, but I felt it,” he said, fondly remembering the events from a few minutes ago. When he saw the princess twitch and look away he leaned forward. For some reason she looked at him again. 

“People aren’t food, princess, giant or small,” he said wisely. “No matter how tasty they are.”

He laughed softly as Sophia made a face at the last comment.

Patting her on the back, he stood up and subsequently doubled over, clutching his stomach, gasping as a sharp pain flooded his system. 

Sophia stepped back, not wanting to be in the line of fire. Not that there was any fire, but with a half-FireWitch half-Giant Wizard, one couldn’t be too cautious.

Massive fingernails digging into his desk, Yonah struggled to stay standing, sweat beading on his forehead, his eyes wide his pupils small. 

“Sophia.” He looked at her like this was her fault. Uh oh! She knew what that meant. 

She backed up further, though she knew it was no good. They had been talking so nicely! They were getting along, sort of. Nice while it lasted. A few minutes of pleasantries before going back to fear and hatred. 

“That thief… must have left something inside me.”

“You- you don’t know that! It could be cramps!” she cried as Yonah caught his breath, the air around his mouth distorted with heat. 

“Unlikely. Now get over here so I can swallow you!” 

That was an order! He’d never ordered her to be eaten. It was a whole new kind of terrifying. He sounded angry. He was always so angry! Why was he so angry?! It wasn’t fair. She had done nothing wrong. Wasn’t eating one person enough for the day! Was traumatizing people so much fun that he had to double dip? 

It didn’t matter that she was “safe”. He could still kill her. Still digest her. So what if he said people weren’t food? His words weren’t worth a defaced copper. He could eat her without activating her curse. He could wait for it to wear off! He could cast those terrible illusions again that looked and felt so real. 

Sure, he had eaten her more than a few times since that very first time, and had always made sure to make her glass beforehand. But. That didn’t make a damn difference to her. Because that first time. That first time, when— when she didn’t know she was safe. When he made her think she was going to die. When… she didn’t want to think about it. The visuals, the sounds, the sensations all still crystal clear in her mind, she trembled, her eyes blurred with fresh tears from the memories of burning phantom pain. 

The wizard was much closer now, leaning across the desk, sophia nearly at the wall. Trembling, she looked into his eyes, seeing only hunger and rage in the bottomless black pupils. 

A hand reached for her and she flinched, expecting him to activate her curse and force her down his gullet yet again. 

“Please… no,” she squeaked with a sob. 

Instead he brushed his fingers against her side. She still tensed and shivered violently. It was not exactly gentle. He nearly knocked her over, she did stumble, and he was a little too rough as he held her between his thumb and palm, rubbing and squeezing her like a toy. Like a pet. Why did he have to pet her. But she took it. In his hands was better than in his stomach. 

The only good thing was that it did seem to calm the cranky fire witch down. Like she was some sort of companion he kept for emotional support. As he handled her, he got more and more gentle until his fingers stopped shaking. And rather than kneading her like therapy putty he massaged her, with such care that he must have practiced this on others. Who, Sophia could not guess. 

Yonah grimaced and sighed. Then grimaced again. “F-fine. Maybe it’s unrelated. Maybe I’ll be better by tonight. Ok?”

Only managing to blubber a vocal response, she nodded. 

He picked her up and she let out a small squeak, but instead of being eaten, she was placed on Yonah’s shoulder. She sat and clung to his shirt while he set about cleaning up his desk. He used magic to get rid of most of the now sticky and dry fluids he’d spat up, but also used some chemicals in jars and two types of sponges. 

“YAHHH”

Yonah grabbed at her again and she held onto his robe’s collar. 

“The desk is clean now!” he said, pulling harder and forcing her to let go, placing her on the desk and she sat down, avoiding his gaze. 

“I want to go to the garden!” Sophia said like a small pampered child. Which she kind of was, pampered at least, being a princess. And small, being barely over 5 feet tall. But at 20 years old, she was not a child. 

“Maybe later,” said Yonah in a flat voice, but one that suggested he wanted to agree. 

/Wait really?/ Sophia didn’t look up, but her heart lifted. 

She had absolutely no skill or talent for horticulture. Which, when she thought about it, was strange for the daughter of a King bonded to a forest. But she desperately wanted to be out of the tower. Spacious as it was for a human, she felt more confined in this tower than she’d ever felt in one back at the castle. And the plants... She liked them. She wanted to know more about them and how to care for them. And she liked how Yonah reduced himself to garden. Sure he was still big, but he wasn’t “big enough to eat her” big. 

A small part of her felt bad that for her to feel safe around Yonah, he had to become more “human,” to temporarily reject part of himself. That wasn’t right. But it was how she felt, as the giant set up some books, both spell and note, definitely slamming them onto the desk in not-subtle attempts to give her a heart attack. 

Her head hurt, now that she was calming down a little. Not just her head, but… and she felt a little sick, but she couldn’t deny it.

“Yonah!” And Yonah, who moments ago sat down to open both a spell and notebook, and dipped a quill into the ink, looked a bit startled. 

“Huh?” 

“I haven’t had breakfast yet!” Sophia stood up. “How do you expect me to learn on an empty stomach?”

Yonah frowned, but nodded, “I don’t, but if you continue to be a rude little bitch, It’s my empty stomach that will get filled.”

Whatever. She crossed her arms and let him pick her up to carry her to the kitchen. Thankfully he didn’t leave her to fend for herself, but made a batch of oatmeal for them to share. 

\---

Yonah hadn’t eaten anything besides the thief, and he hoped that his stomach could handle the simple carbs. It still throbbed with a dull ache. But he was so hungry… and if he didn’t eat anything, he would eat the princess. Mad at her he may be, but that was no reason to eat her. As if he ever needed a reason. Most of the time he just looked for any excuse to “get mad”, but recently he felt bad about it. Her fear wasn’t fun, not anymore, not in this way. 

How she shied away from his touch, trembled under his gaze, and was nearly brought to tears when he raised his voice. And it was all his fault, and he hated himself for it. 

Unfortunately, he had no idea how to go about apologizing, feeling that, at this point, it was too late. He would just keep being his evil self, like he had been ordered to, and she would hate and fear him like she was supposed to. It was just how things were meant to be. 

The oatmeal was ready, and they ate in silence. 

Yonah was unable to eat more than a few bites before his stomach started feeling icky and irritable. The thought of another bite made him want to barf, and he’d done that already today. He jarred up the remaining oatmeal and washed the dishes while Sophia finished eating. 

When his dishes were dry, he went to the bathroom. While he did need to use it, he also wanted to look at his chest. 

At the sight of the ugly purple bruise over his stomach, his heart punched against the inside of his ribcage. Putting his robes back on he went back to the kitchen to find Sophia washing her dishes. Must’ve gotten impatient waiting for him. 

“I have some components to prepare today, if you want to watch, or you can do what you want, just don’t leave the tower,” he said. 

“Well I,” she started to say, rather loudly, before losing her nerve, saying softly, “What else am I to do?”

“Fair enough.” He took her back upstairs. 

Guess he should try to scrape together some sort of teaching opportunity out of today’s to-do list. Maybe he could just narrate his actions and thoughts. That would be good. Give examples of what goes through the mind of a mage as he worked. Demonstrating the process is always good! 

Starting with the spells he wanted to construct, making a list and comparing components. Seeing which spells needed what, and which ones used the same parts. Ending up with a table of the total amount of each component needed, plus a little extra. 

From there, he gathered the recipes for each component that he was going to make. He didn’t prepare all of them, some he had already made, some he had bought pre-made (like twice distilled, once cursed, fire worm slime), or it came ready to use (like fairy dust). 

Now it was to his alchemical bench to start the actual alchemy! Sophia did not like having to climb down his desk and then up his robes to get to the bench. He could have carried her. 

“It’s good exercise,” he said. “You’re gonna get lazy if I carry you everywhere. Now where was I?”

The organization she had understood. Now she was lost.

His hands worked so fast, grinding up dried chunks of unicorn hooves or horns, powdering hen’s teeth, sifting Ogre’s Wheat. Extracting extracting pollen from Blistering Ginger Blossoms, the nectar from Thunder Mustard, and sap from Green-Headed Swamp Black Oak Seedlings. Distilling liquid fear from Hare’s Fluxroot and concentrating the oils of Common Thousand-leaf clover. 

There were moments, when Yonah took out delicately small tools, much too small for his hands, and worked them deftly. Or tried to... he swore when his hands slipped or he broke something. As the day went on he made more mistakes and swore more frequently. Eventually his eyes glowed and his hair started to smell like a dying campfire. 

Sophia, who had attempted once to interrupt him for clarification only to be met with hostility, couldn’t resist teasing her tormentor. Especially as he snapped the third rod of void-fungus infested bamboo between his fingers, squirting the fungal ink all over his glasses. 

“OHmygods just shrink already you stupid stubborn giant!” Sophia blurted out before she could stop herself. 

“Excuse me?” Yonah turned to her, his eyes still full of fire. “For someone so scared of being eaten by me, you’d think you could hold your tongue!” He licked his lips, “it’s almost like you want me to eat you.”

Sophia quickly ducked behind a glass contraption with a bulbous middle and curly tubing. 

“No! I’m sorry! But! Wouldn’t this be easier if you were—”

“If I were human?” he said through gritted teeth. “There is so much about my life that would be easier if I were born human. I wouldn’t have had to lie to get into school, I wouldn't have been arrested for attending, I wouldn’t be stuck here In my own personal prison! I wouldn’t have to look after a bratty princess!”

He sighed and pushed away his anger. It was hard, but at least his eyes returned to white and brown. He smiled cheekily.

“But I wouldn’t trade being a giant for anything.” He looked like he might cry, but quickly covered it with dark humor. “For one thing, I wouldn’t get to eat people.”

Sophia glared at him through the glass, her head distorted, making him laugh. 

“The thing is princess, I normally would reduce for the more delicate work. But if that thief left something inside me, something that won’t reduce with me, well-” He couldn’t finish that thought. Instead he sat on his chair, a dark cloud hanging around him that slowly went away as he cleaned the ink off his glasses. 

“Oh,” Sophia came back around, and just observed the giant. 

He looked more like someone’s eccentric uncle than a fearsome monster, even the heavy smell of smoke that hung around him. For surely any eccentric uncle smokes fancy cigars. 

After that, he stuck to work he could do at his natural size. Which meant he could only create about half the supplies on his list. For a second he thought about having Sophia, with her small human hands, do some work. Nope. He was too mad at her, and didn’t want to initiate conversation, didn’t want to attempt to instruct her in case he couldn’t control his anger. 

At least the pain seemed to have gone. Maybe his body had taken care of whatever the thief did to him. 

They did not, however, do any gardening. 

\---

Sophia screamed in horror as Yonah fell off his chair and vomited on the kitchen floor. 

Barely digested clumps of buckwheat and meat and vegetables… and blood. 

It had been wrong to think that Yonah would be okay. She should not have gotten her hopes up when he was able to eat dinner, for it was only 10 minutes after his first bite that he became sick. 

She should run. She knew what was coming, and she should run and hide. He was weak, he was in pain, he was pretty much incapacitated! He might not be able to catch her! He was refusing to reduce, and there were plenty of little hiding places in the tower that he couldn’t reach as a giant. 

Instead her legs stood up and marched her to the edge of the table with a view of Yonah kneeling on the floor, coughing and spitting and crying. She wanted to put her hands over her eyes, but they only went to her mouth. 

The giant turned his head up, eyes red and puffed. 

“Sophia-” he could barely speak. 

“Just- make it quick...”

\---

Several minutes later, Yonah had cleaned himself up, and was sitting in his armchair, in the living room. Sophia, curse activated, sat in his lap. He had given her several vials of the magical glass paste. ‘Just in case,’ he had said. Normally she only took one with her. 

“Sophia,” he said again, “thank-”

“Don’t!” She took a deep breath, “Just- just eat me already-” 

With trembling hands he lifted her to his mouth, then a little higher, so she was eye to eye. 

For once there was no hunger in those earthy eyes. Not that it made her feel any better about this. 

Sitting on his palm, holding onto a finger, she was lowered, feet first, into his mouth. Normally he ate her head first… her legs were in his mouth, her feet about to enter his throat, but her torso was still outside. Still clinging to that finger even as he started to swallow. 

There was absolutely no flavor. At least, his mind wouldn’t acknowledge any. And against her request, he went slowly. He knew she was trying not to cry. She had cried every time he’d eaten her so far. This time, a few tears ran down his cheeks. 

Eventually he had to stick his fingers into his mouth so that Sophia could maintain contact with the outside world. The tiny glass hands of the princess were so tight it cut off his circulation. Until he swallowed again, and the last of Sophia slipped away; her hands released their hold. Out of the tip of his finger, he sent a bead of light to follow her. 

The lump made its way to his stomach, and it was worse than he’d anticipated. 

Instead of the normal, pleasant stretching and weight of the glass princess there was a ripping pressure. His head spun, his heart thundered, his ears rang. 

No. That wasn’t his ears…

Sophia was screaming! 

“AAAAAAAAH!” it was window shattering, but thankfully not giant-eardrum shattering. 

As she flailed wildly within him, causing waves of pain to ripple through his body, Yonah drew his knees up to his chest, which also hurt, but he couldn’t stay still otherwise. 

“What-” he attempted. 

“THERE’S STILL FOOD IN HERE! YOU DIDN’T PUKE IT ALL UP! GET ME OUT GET ME OUT GET ME OUT!”

“Not until you look around!” he said as clearly as he could. 

“IT’S NOT LIKE THERE ARE NOOKS AND CRANNIES! THERE’S NOTHING BUT-”

*tink* 

RAAAAAAAHHH!

“F-F-Found-dit” Sophia squeaked. 

Now that she knew where it was, she saw it clearly. It had been camouflaged by being covered in blood, matching the flesh around it. 

A jeweled sword hilt stuck out of the muscle. The entire section of flesh was a deep purple as red blood trickled down it, mixing with the half-digested food goop, turning brown. 

“Greht”

“I’m going to pull it out,” she snorted and rolled up her sleeves. 

“Wait pull what - GRAAAAAAAAHHHH!”

She barely gave it a tug and there was a spray of blood. She screeched, falling back on her ass, the stomach undulating and clenching with distress. Blood dripped down her face, thankfully not able to soak into her glass clothes or stick to her glass skin. 

“D-don’t do that again,” Yonah begged. 

“How else am i supposed to get the damn sword out!?” Sophia shouted upward. 

Yonah cursed. 

“Sword- fucker had a hidden sword-” He coughed and it hurt so bad as he felt Sophia squish inside him, connecting with the sword again. 

“Just. Give me a minute.”

Sophia closed her eyes and drew her knees to her chest, holding them there with her arms. One minute. Another minute added to the time she was imprisoned inside the monster who was supposed to be her teacher. In his stomach. She still didn’t know if anyone had ever met their end in here. Yonah claimed to let thieves go he spared the most recent one. But that didn’t mean he let them all go. He could be lying to protect her sanity. 

No. That didn’t make sense. He wanted her to leave right? If he made it clear he DID in fact kill people this way, wouldn’t that be a great way to scare her off?

Okay, the minute was up, she shifted around and grasped the hilt and pulled again. 

“Hold on!” Yonah panicked but she ignored him. 

A moment later he was on the floor. 

Had she not been made of glass she would have gone deaf as the screams returned loud enough to burst flesh ear drums. Reverberating through her form. For a moment she thought she might crack or shatter. 

The sword was in her grasp. The muscles tensed, jittered, and constricted as Yonah gasped and fought against the pain. With so much activity Sophia got submerged in bloody chyme. She held the blade and her non-existent breath while the flesh around her pulsed angry and hot. 

But not boiling. The fluids swirled and flowed around her but left her glass body unmolested. She closed her eyes and pretended that this was just a hot bath as she let Yonah cough and catch his breath. 

It took several minutes but eventually the muscles relaxed, the pulse was no longer raging, and the heavy, painful breathing had subsided slightly. As the muscles let go of their tension the fluid level dropped. She could see again, she could speak again. 

“Gottit.” Her voice was wispy, but she was confident he could hear her.

She felt the short gasping breaths above her as Yonah squeaked out a “I- figured. Owwww.”

He gave no indication of letting her out, but considering he was still a blubbering mess on the floor, Sophia was not going to bring it up yet. She could… deal for a little longer. 

Doing her best to ignore her torturous surroundings she studied the sword. It was... ugly. Well it was actually incredibly beautiful. The fillegry and detail, and pattern of gems enchanting and uncanny. But it felt ugly. She turned to the wound hidden in the folds, pushing the flesh aside to get a proper look. Yonah hissed in pain, cursing her out, but she didn’t care. Blood glooped sluggishly, steadily out. 

Should it be? 

“Yonah?” 

After a sharp inhale, “Y-yes? I- I can’t get you out yet”

“I know. I know. Just… The wound is still bleeding.”

Another sharp breath. “unfort- un-uh- sadly I don't know--"HUFF. "--how l - how long for wounds to” HUFF “clot in the stomach. I’m not” HUFF “a ph-phy- doctor.”

“Yeah me neither but… Also..”

Her tone did not inspire confidence. 

“This sword, it feels wrong.”

Oh boy. 

“Describe it.” His mind was running through the hundreds of common sword enchantments. 

She did her best, and Yonah cursed and coughed his loudest so far.

“It’s a fucking everbleed blade. The wound isn’t going to stop bleeding. Fuck me. Fuck!”

“What! Surely there is something-”

“There is but you’re not going to like it.”

\---

“Ready?”

“Whatever.” If she could gag in this state she would have as the disgusting gulping sound reached her ears. 

Soon enough, a small vial joined her. "Small for Yonah, anyway. For her, it was a large jar, which, now all slippery, was difficult to get a grip on even if she had not been holding onto the enchanted blade. And she had to be careful. She didn’t want to make another cut which also would not close without intervention. 

Actually… SHIT. 

“Hey fucker!” She kicked and she smiled as Yonah’s breath caught painfully. 

“-yes?” he squeaked out. 

“Swallow a damn sheath for this fucking sword! I nearly dropped it!” 

“Ehhhh yeah. Hold on. I know I’ve got something here.”

There was a lot of movement as Yonah made the difficult trip to a storage cabinet full of the random crap adventurers left behind. 

Another gulp and she had her sheath, magical, so probably indigestible, and Yonah returned to his chair. Actually he sat on his couch so that in case he needed to lie down, it wouldn’t be on the floor. 

She turned her attention to the wound, which was difficult to see, and even harder to work the potion into. The flow of blood was a barrier between the flesh and the potion. It needed to be cleaned up a bit. But how… DOUBLE SHIT! 

The steady mouthfuls worth of water flowed down the stomach walls as Yonah drank, clearing off enough of the blood and exposing the open wound, which looked worse than before. 

The potion was more of a salve, and she scooped it out in handfuls. It was clear and glittered. It wasn’t easy to coat the actively bleeding mucus covered flesh, but out of sheer determination, she did it.

Almost immediately, her hands were covered in blood and mucus. To be fair her whole body was, but now her hands looked like they were dipped in red paint. Every touch of the wound caused Yonah to squirm. To whimper. To shudder. She scooped up a glob of potion into her fingers and slid them into the cut.

Yonah screeched. 

When she was done had half the potion left, and waited for Yonah to recover from her “treatment.” 

“Ok let me the fuck out!” She resisted kicking his stomach since she had just spent 10 minutes applying medicine to it. 

The stomach shifted, he must have been lying down. And the walls started to convulse as the wizard made the attempt to vomit once more. 

All he managed to spit up was more bloody goop and the last remaining soft chunks of food. Catching his breath, he tried to speak. 

“Sophia-”

“Don’t fucking tell me-”

“I- I can’t. - seem to. - throw you up.” His voice was high and painful. 

He was shaking. Surely she could feel that. 

“Sophia?” He coughed. 

No response.

“Sophia!” With strength recovered by desperation and a few hot tears gathering at his eyes. 

“Fuck - off”

“I- can’t do that.” He blinked and a near boiling drop of water ran down his face. Then another. 

“Then shut the fuck up.”

He lay back down on the couch, resisting the urge to rub at his stomach. Which was easy. It was so bruised that even a gentle touch flooded his body with agony. Even Sophia’s presence was painful. 

At least the pain was starting to dull. His chest was still very sore. Well. He had been stabbed. But he wasn’t crying from the pain. The tears were partially from the exertion of trying to throw up… and mostly because Sophia was trapped in his stomach and he couldn’t get her out! 

That was bad! 

They could keep recasting her curse, but he needed to eat! And sleep! He couldn’t do either of those things with her there. He couldn’t. It… would be… dangerous… He had to calm down. He had to rest. He had to heal. 

\---

She wasn’t completely sure, but certainly this was the longest she had ever been here. The memories of the past scare just at the edge of her mind. Yet the longer she sat there, the more distant they were. 

Light snores came from above her. 

She sat up and Yonah startled awake.

“YOU! CANNOT! FUCKING! FALL! ASLEEP!” She shrieked loud enough to shatter a magical mirror. 

Not only was the prospect of sitting in his stomach while he slept abhorrent, he was exhausted. He was hurt. 

She. Could. DIE.

For the past few weeks she slowly became less scared for her life when her so-called mentor ate her alive. To the point where she almost was more angry than scared when he did. 

All of that came undone as the giant nearly fell asleep. The very real danger coming back like a punch to the gut with a knight’s gauntleted fist. If anything she was more scared than when she thought he was trying to deliberately kill her. He was in control of that situation. In control of her life! She was his responsibility! How DARE he so carelessly endanger her! 

Yonah’s pulse quickened and he hissed a weak, agonizing “fuck” as she kicked him back to consciousness. 

She was right. And he had an idea. 

Yonah gingerly got up and from a hidden storage room (behind the pantry cold room), he got out a box. He took the box up stairs and removed a pedestal, perched on top was a golden harpy claw clutching a large green crystal. Large for a human. Normal sized for Yonah, aka, MINISCULE!! And if he fucked this up it would kill them both. 

This was gonna be fun at his full size! He still couldn’t shrink down, not with the magic sword and Sophia still inside him, so this was going to require a steady delicate hand. Too bad he was shaking from the pain. 

Miracles are rare, and often small. 

The crystal was removed without catastrophe. Now to… uh. Shit. This might take a while, he needed to do a little more research… he was so tired. But he needed to have this done before he passed out! Maybe he could refine it later? Yeah. Later. 

He hadn’t set up many spells that had to communicate with each other. He had to hunt down a few books that he hadn’t opened in a while. 

So old and dust that he coughed harshly opening one of them. But it was Sophia bouncing around and subsequent pissed off movements that brought forth more tears. 

“Ok, I can’t take it anymore What the fuck are you up to? Something to get me out of here?” she asked. 

It took a moment for him to hold onto a breath. 

“No… it’s-”

“Don’t fucking care!” Fuck him! He should be doing everything in his power to get her out. 

“You should! OW!” She’d kicked him, “It’s a device that will keep you alive. I don’t know if I can stay awake until I’m healed, and the healing potion works faster on someone who is sleeping.”

“I THINK YOU CAN FUCKING DEAL WITH THE EXHAUSTION! THIS IS YOUR FAULT! THIS IS YOUR PUNISHMENT!”

Oh, it was so tempting to rub at the princess, but it would hurt him more than it would bother her. 

“You don’t get it! I might pass out in the attempt! And who knows what it would take to wake me up at that point. This way I can sleep and know I’ll wake up in time! OUCH! Stop kicking me!”

“I thought you enjoyed my struggles.” Her voice warbled. “I thought you enjoyed my distress! Why would you want to sleep through that! Miss out on the glorious misery you’re inflicting upon me! Why would you leave me to suffer alone in here while you sleep away your problems?!”

“That’s- not- no.” He was about to explain that her movements hurt him in his injured condition, but she knew that. Oh gods. She was right. If he slept then she would be effectively alone. He would be abandoning her. And she was so scared right now, scared and at his mercy. 

“If you insist, I’ll stay awake. I might have to drink some coffee. I’ll make it strong so it won’t be much. But I will stay awake if you need me to. I- I don’t want you to suffer more than you already have.”

She didn’t say anything for a while. 

“Does the healing magic really work that much faster if you sleep?”

“Yes.” 

“Fine.”

“You could try to sleep too.”

There was a perfectly timed pause before she laughed, shrill like the cracking of many panes of glass. It sent crackling shivers up his spine and to his brain. 

“Sleep! in HERE! In your STOMACH!?! I’D HAVE AN EASIER TIME ON A BED OF RUSTY NAILS! THAT WOULD BE SAFER TOO! I’m staying awake. I’m not about to wake up half digested just to give you my final words.” 

“That’s not gonna happen, I won’t let it happen.” 

He was about to return to his books but Sophia kept talking. 

“Sure, whatever. Just, if I die here…”

“You’re not-“

“IF I DIE HERE!” she growled. She was so not fucking around, “Tell my father I said to make your death swift and painless.”

“I- okay.” But he was determined and confident in his plan. And he had found the right books. 

But before continuing…

“Do you want to reset the spell now?”

The offer surprised her. She took a while to respond again.

“You only gave me a few vials of paste, wouldn’t that waste one?”

“I can always swallow more. But you don’t need the whole vial. Just a dab. Heh-” He did rather inaccurate calculations in his head (he cannot know the volume of a dab he cannot see). “-you probably have enough for at least a week long stay in the HaEsh Inn”

“Don’t fucking joke about that!” 

“Sorry, that was… insensitive of me”

“But. Good to know. Yes. Please.” She uncorked a vial and dipped a finger in, applying the paste to her forehead. 

At her signal, he placed a hand to his stomach and carefully drew up magic within himself. He hoped this worked. He realized he did not know if he could recast it if she was inside him. In theory it should! There was no reason it shouldn’t. However in this moment…

FUCK! How could he be so stupid! If this failed he would run to Miryan, sleep be damned. The dwarf witch wouldn’t approve of his actions, and would never speak to him again, but they would save the princess before that. 

He did not tell Sophia of his sudden change in plans. Of how this was a much more precarious situation than he had thought. 

Forcing himself to calm down, as the princess’s life depended on it, he drew breath. The words of the enchantment left his lips, the magic swirled around in his stomach. 

“I. It worked,” Sophia squeaked, almost happy. “I don’t know how I know, but I know, I can feel that it’s been reset.” 

Thank fuck. There was a moment’s relief from all his pain at the knowledge that Sophia was safe. 

“I’ll get back to work then. The sooner I can sleep, the sooner you get out.”

“Yeah, just. Whatever.”

Not exactly a vote of confidence but he didn’t expect much more. 

After gathering the materials, he started working on the equations and procedure layouts. 

The release trigger was the tricky part. Not only did the magic have to release when the timer ran its course, but only release a minuscule amount of its power. Anything more and it could do serious damage at the least. 

It took several spells applied and adjusted and twisted into each other, but by some miracle he finished it before Sophia’s enchantment wore off. Not that it would have been a problem otherwise, but he was proud of his timing. 

In his hands he held an unassuming Hour Glass. Okay, it was very beautiful and large. Not half giant sized, but big for a human. Other than that it looked normal… except for the green crystal wedged into the neck. And woven through it was a buttload of magic. 

By measuring the rate of the sand fal,l he calculated the volume to last 4 hours minus 15 minutes. That way it would wake him with plenty of time, as long as her enchantment had just been cast or reset. 

“It’s done,” he announced. “Nothing to say?”

He waited. 

“Ok, fine, but I’m going to sleep. So be ready to reset the spell in a few minutes,” he informed her. 

“You’d have to anyways,” Sophia said, “it’s gonna wear off soon.”

“That’s some pretty good sense of time.” 

“Fuck off!” 

Not what he expected. Sure it wasn’t an impressive skill, but he wasn’t trying to be demeaning. Unless.

“Can. Can you feel the enchantment about to run out?”

She really didn’t want to talk to Yonah anymore. He was about to abandon her, he was about to leave her in her personal torture chamber as he took a nice 4 Hour nap! 

“I think so,” she said, “it’s like my skin is… numb but not numb. A memory of being numb, and a bit cold. It’s really… warm in here and I don’t think I’m feverish.” She thought for a moment about lying. Nah, it wouldn’t help in the end. “I’m about 5 minutes from turning back,” 

Plenty of time. 

Yonah entered his bedroom. With a wave of his staff he swapped his robes for a nightgown. He didn’t like using magic to get dressed but… he didn’t feel like disrobing with an occupant. 

It hurt to lay down, Sophia got jostled and had to re-adjust. His midsection throbbed and felt like it was burning as the already inflamed muscle and tissue was aggravated. 

He turned the hourglass and reset Sophia’s curse. He also had her apply more potion. For normal wounds one would re-apply regularly. He wasn’t going to waste the ability to do so. 

Even with the pain he felt himself quickly falling unconscious and managed to mumble a “goodnight”.

Before passing out he swore Sophia responded with “goodbye.”

—

Four hours. She had FOUR FUCKING HOURS to sit and wait to see if whatever Yonah had made worked. Or if she would die. 

And each minute was an eternity. Just waiting to die or not! Ahahahah!!!! How the FUCK could he sleep with her in such imminent danger from his own body! Her mind was way too anxious, way too terrified, way too angry. 

Too…

Too...

Somehow she had avoided crying since he swallowed her over 5 hours ago. An incredible feat since she cried nearly every time before this. Quiet, fearful, scared cries. Not deep heavy sobs. 

“Something wrong?” The sleepy voice rumbled around her. 

She hadn’t thought she could feel any more emotions, but her frustration turned to anger turned into rage. 

“WRONG!? WRONG!?” She felt him tense. 

“Let’s see: my father shipped me out without notice to be the prisoner of an evil man-eating Mage-giant! Said evil man-eating giant acted like he was going to teach me magic but actually cursed me so he could eat me alive and make me think I was going to DIE, made me think I WAS DYING! Threatened to ACTUALLY KILL ME if I made him mad again Because my FATHER said if I ran away then he wouldn’t have to teach me!”

He winced but didn’t interrupt as her Voice grew in intensity. 

“And even after that failed he continues to eat me whenever he fucking feels like it knowing he still wishes I would just run off like a good little princess! BUT I DIDN’T! I DIDN’T GIVE UP! And the reward for my perseverance is getting stuck in his stomach waiting to die surrounded by his half digested blood!”

Not needing to pause to catch her breath, she kept going without losing any steam. 

“Even if I survive I’ll just get eaten again! And if I tell my father, he’ll definitely kill you. And no, I don't care if you die; this is my ONLY chance to learn magic, my lifelong dream! What a NIGHTMARE! I have a mentor who HATES ME, DOESN’T ACTUALLY WANT TO TEACH ME, and EATS ME! SO that’s what is fucking wrong! Im scared, eaten, pissed off, and I HATE YOU! I hate you SO MUCH!”

Yonah sat up and was so numb in his thoughts that he didn’t even respond to the stabbing pains as Sophia’s tantrum continued as a performance art. 

“That was, harsh, princess,”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she sneered.” I’m not at my most tactful when steeped in bloody bile” 

This time he felt he deserved the jolts of pain as she kicked his tender insides. Recovering, he took a deep breath and let out a shaking sigh. 

“Maybe tact isn’t what we need right now. I’ve… I’ve been horrible to you.”

“JUST NOW REALIZING THAT HUH?!”

“No. I knew I was horrible, like you said. I was trying my best to get you to run but-“

“IT DIDN’T WORK! SUCK IT YOU EVIL BASTARD” 

Another kick. Ignoring the pain, he continued, “But- not anymore. You were wrong about a few things.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t want you to leave, I do want to teach you, and I don’t hate you.”

“WOW! Wonderful! I still hate you!” 

“That’s fair. I can’t blame you after what I did. I’m not proud of it. At the time I was convinced it would get you to give up. You were much stronger than I thought. Are stronger. Or more foolish.”

“Oh so because I’m a princess it must be because I’m ditzy?”

Right, he shouldn’t be joking right now. 

“Foolish was the wrong word. Foolhardy, and determined. You are incredibly brave, Princess, especially right now.”

He took a deep breath. 

“I can’t believe you hate me. If you did you wouldn’t be in my stomach right now.”

“ExCUSE me?” Her voice grated like fingernails on rough glass.

“You let me eat you this time. Because I was hurt. You pulled a sword out of my stomach! You applied healing potion! You did this to help me, your evil captor. I can’t imagine how… rough this has been for you.”

“No, you can’t. But I definitely hate you.” She spat, “I’m just a good person, unlike you.”

“Fine. You can hate me. So. After all I've done.... After tonight. Do you still want to learn magic from me?”

“No! I don’t!”

“That’s-” That wasn’t what he expected. He did expect that next kick, it was just as painful. 

“But it’s you or no one, so I will. Even if you're really just keeping me around as a new favorite snack-”

He laughed, and then she laughed when he cried out in agony. His own mirth had betrayed him. 

“As delicious as you are, as filling as you are…” She kicked him, he deserved that. “I want you to stay because I want to teach you. You have a lot of potential to become a powerful mage”

He felt her snort.

“I’m serious. I… haven’t been so good with your lessons so far. But despite my gods awful instruction you still learned.”

“You’re lying to make me feel better.”

“I’m not!” he insisted. “I actually like being a teacher. I give lectures whenever I can back at the Academy!”

“Really? Wait, I don’t care-“

“I just wasn’t thrilled with having a student dropped upon me suddenly! And you weren’t thrilled about being sent to be my prisoner. I certainly wasn’t!”

“If you’re a prisoner of my dad and I’m your prisoner… am I a double prisoner?”

Again he laughed and then convulsed as the renewed pain arrived. 

“Don’t answer that! I’m allowed to make jokes! You’re not!” 

“... But. Now. Remember last week? In the garden?”

“You mean when you let me leave the tower for the first time!?”

“Yes… obviously you were excited for some fresh air”

“BETTER THAN THE AIR IN HERE THAT’S FOR SURE!”

“Your… excitement and enthusiasm for the garden. It kinda reminded me of well, me. It was also the first time you smiled since… since I cursed you. And I can’t believe I ever wanted to deny you your happiness…” 

“... So...” he finally continued, “I’m sorry.”

She didn’t speak for a long time and he lay back down. Without realizing it, Sophia mirrored his movements, laying down into the soft bed of flesh. It felt almost like being hugged. Though she could do without the smell of blood. The muffled sound of Yonah’s slow breaths came from above her head, as well as the steady pounding of his heart. 

“I believe you. That you’re sorry. But that doesn’t erase what you did. What you made me experience in here.”

“I won’t ever do that again. Not to you, not to anyone.”

Yeah well, he’d still done it. Whatever. She wouldn’t ever forgive him, but perhaps she could move past it. 

“You claim you don’t want to deny my ‘happiness’, yet you continue to eat me. Are you going to stop eating me? It’s hard to be happy when scared out of my wits every other day.”

He scrunched his face. He didn’t eat her that often! However It probably felt like it to her. 

“Not going to lie, princess, I plan to keep eating you.” He felt her slide a bit no kicking, “but if you really want me to stop. I'll stop.” 

She shifted. 

“I have just one more question.” He said. 

“One more.” She would hold him to it. 

The deep breath which followed rolled over Sophia as the inflating lungs pushed down on the other internal organs. 

“Are you scared? Right now? Are you scared of me?” 

She took so long to answer that he thought she had chosen to ignore him. 

Then, 

“Just. Go back to sleep.” 

Sophia did not realize how much tension Yonah had been holding onto as he sighed and everything around her relaxed. Well not everything. The wound wouldn’t let his stomach relax completely. 

“Will you be ok?”

“That’s another question!” 

He chuckled, winced, noted that that last kick wasn’t as forceful, and let himself fall asleep. 

—-

No. 

No.

She wasn’t scared. Not in the same way. If he wasn’t currently incapacitated and unable to get her out, she might not be scared at all. Only proxy scared from flashbacks to the first time.... But he couldn’t get her out. He might sleep through his alarm! He might digest her alive for real! 

And yet. Now, after 6 total hours of not dying, she was mostly bored out of her mind. 

The fluids around her were still threatening. But they couldn’t follow through. The noises weren’t as thunderous and angry, but more… whimsical and foolish. The disgustingly slimy walls that tensed and squoze her? Trying their best to help turn her to mush? Well… failing that they were soft, warm, and rocked her gently. 

Maybe she should sleep. At least sleep was something enjoyable. And right now it was about the most fun thing she could think of. 

While her body didn’t feel tired, her brain was demanding rest. Which was odd since it didn’t feel particularly tired either… 

Maybe she would have a nice dream before the end. 

And she did dream. She dreamt she was back at the castle, with her siblings! They were at some sort of party. But not a large one. It wasn’t in a room she recognized; actually it was in the forest. Stretched out in the canopy, providing shade, were horrible pink tarps with designs that made sense until they didn’t. The food and drink were fantastic! 

The conversation was lacking. Even at this venue she knew she was still a prisoner of the giant. But at least she wasn’t in his stomach. At least he wasn’t here. 

She kept trying to tell them about her crazy experiences with her man-eating tutor, how maybe her father (who no one could find but everyone swore he was around) should be told! But people would just smile and laugh no matter what she said. 

Only Daniel even believed her story! But he still didn’t seem concerned. He produced another bottle of mead. 

Then the sky darkened, the scenery fading away. The harder she tried to bring it back, the faster it disappeared. Except for Daniel. He stayed clear and bright, smiling, stretching to show sharp teeth, and swung the bottle, full force, at her head.  
\---

You know those pins and needles you get in your limbs after they fall asleep? 

That’s what Sophia’s brain felt like, and also like she really had been struck. Judging by Yonah jolting awake and groaning, he felt the same.

She was about to say something like “Ah, that’s why you were so confident. If you slept through that it would mean you were dead,” but she wasn’t about to praise him. Now that he knew she could feel the spell wearing off, now that he had this alarm, she knew that future trips to his stomach would last longer. Great. 

WAIT! There didn’t have to be future trips! If she asked him to stop then he would! He had said so! But… was she going to ask? She really should, right? Who in their right mind would continue to let themselves be eaten?

“HEY!” A spot of light appeared in front of her face. “I could've cast that on my own!” 

“I figured you... never mind,” 

Before Yonah attempted to spit her up she applied the rest of the healing potion. 

Blood smeared on her arm and she knew in her heart it wasn’t healed enough. 

“I’m sorry.” The giant’s voice was weak from five minutes of dry heaving.

Sophia sat back down, into the flesh with an adorable *squish* sound, fuming. 

“I think, I think I just need to sleep again. And if you let me, drink some water.”

“I can’t exactly stop you!”

“I’m asking your permission”

“Well! You don’t really need it so don’t think you’re being respectful! It’s too late for that! Drink some fucking water. It’s all goopy and bloody in here so maybe it will clean it up.”

Yonah didn’t like her describing the state of his stomach, even if that was what she was there for, but at least it scared his growing hunger a short distance away. He hadn’t gotten a proper meal since… the previous morning! Even with the princess taking up space in his stomach, it was long past the time it could be tricked into true fullness. 

One glass of water wasn’t really enough, and he had to drink it slowly so that Sophia wouldn’t be submerged. At least his mouth wasn’t so dry and sticky. Then the spell was reset and the hourglass flipped. 

“It’s a terrible wake up call,” Sophia noted as Yonah lay back down. He didn’t hurt as badly; so the healing potion must be doing something. Then he finished processing what she had said.

“Wait. Did you. Fall asleep?”

*Oof* her forceful movements still hurt a great deal. 

“It’s BORING in here!” 

“Well. I hope I… wasn’t… uncomfortable.” 

“It wasn’t ideal. It’s a stomach.” 

Truth be told… if it weren’t for that it would be a decent bed. Gross? Yes. Slimy? Yeah. But warm and soft. 

SHE WASN'T GOING TO TELL HIM THAT! 

She was definitely going to try and fall asleep again... she still didn’t feel that tired, but her brain knew the passage of time well enough that it THOUGHT it should and therefore /could/ sleep. 

In minutes Yonah had fallen asleep. His mind and body drained and hurt, it was an effort to stay awake. 

… 

No.

No.

She wasn’t scared.

Not of him. 

Not anymore. 

He’d placed a vile curse on her so that she couldn’t be harmed. So she was safe. He did in fact have teaching experience (something he and her father neglected to mention!). So he could teach her. He had not been prepared for an unexpected roommate/prisoner. Neither was she. So they were both going to have to adjust. 

If she didn’t think too hard about her current location… it wasn’t so bad. The warmth and moisture were a little uncomfortable and it didn’t smell great, but since her body was made of glass, it didn’t bother her. The rhythm of the Giant’s pulse was kinda soothing. He might be a jerk, but he had opened his heart tonight. Tonight he put his trust in her and in him. Literally trusting her inside of him, when he knew she hated him. She no longer worried about him changing his mind and letting her die. He wouldn’t have gone to all that effort to keep her alive otherwise. 

She was a bit scared of the alarm. That was super unpleasant. It hurt a lot! But it did its job. 

Absentmindedly examining the potion jar (since there was little else to do) she found a small amount of potion left. Conjuring up her own light (his having faded with his consciousness), she rubbed it into the wound. The flesh convulsed but Yonah didn’t wake, and no fresh blood came forth. 

As carefully and cautiously as she could manage, she wedged herself into the folds of muscle, letting them embrace her and push her around. She could almost be on a boat at sea. 

Which is what she dreamt of until the alarm went off again.

——

“FREEDOM! SWEET FUCKING FREEDOM!” 

Coughing, Yonah pulled the princess out of his jaws and into the bathroom sink with a splash. It was easier to wash off when glass, no worries about ruined clothing. 

The sword was placed to the side to be dealt with later. 

Once he’d had water and Sophia was dry, he dispelled her curse, even though it was a only a few minutes from ending. 

Then he shrunk down next to Sophia, who was sitting on a giant sized towel. Now they were both on the countertop, frozen in awkward silence.

“Uh, why- OH!”

He probably should have asked permission but he scooped her up in a very complete hug. Her feet dangled above the ground. He had picked her up many times, and at his reduced size she always ended up slung over a shoulder. Now he held her securely, lightly, just barely squeezing her. 

For a moment she tensed, until she heard him sniff. No… he wasn’t smelling her, he was on the verge of tears! Or would be in tears if he wasn’t so dehydrated. 

“Thank you,” he whispered. 

She didn’t reply, but he didn’t expect her to. All that mattered was that she didn’t try to get out of his embrace. She let him hold her for a few more seconds before he figured not to push it much longer. It had been a long time since she wasn’t enveloped by him and she probably needed some space. 

His instincts were right. She requested alone time in the garden. Fresh air and all that. It was an exercise in trust as well. Not once, in the last month, had she been allowed outside unsupervised, lest she flee. 

\---

The sun was low in the sky and the morning air was crisp. After 12 hours in a bruised and bloody stomach, the garden was the perfect place to unwind. The kind greens and browns of the orchard, the bright and elegant magical roses and daffodils were a sight for sore eyes. The crisp morning air carrying the sweet or sharp aromas of all the fresh blossoms (most noticeable: the King’s Lavender and Drunken Lilies), blessings on a weary nose. 

A cool breeze caressed the exposed skin of her arms and face, washing away the lingering memories of stifling warmth. She stood in the center of the garden, as much space as possible on all sides, held her arms out, and slowly spun around. Faster and faster until she fell down onto the path. Hard, cool, stones. Exactly what she needed. Ahhhhhhhh. She rolled next to a large flowerbed. She could lie here forever. 

A young sunflower leaned over to check on her. 

The soft petals tickled her nose and she sneezed. Satisfied that she wasn’t broken, the flower straightened out. But the shadow didn’t go alway. 

Her carefree attitude evaporated as she looked up at the giant. Except he had shrunken down again so he was simply a freakishly large man. He was freshly cleaned up, judging by the sheen of his hair and the sharpness of his goatee. He’d also changed from the nightgown into unusually simple clothing. She closed her eyes. 

“I figured you want some space, but-”

“You would be correct.”

Even with her eyes closed, she could tell he was still there. Maybe if she ignored him, he would leave her be. 

“I brought sparkling cider. It’s cold.” 

Opening one eye, she saw the sheepish wizard holding a tray with a frosted pitcher and two glasses. She knew the juice was made from apples grown in his garden, which he planted in a specific pattern to capture extra magic from the soil. 

“I accept this offering.” 

He sat down next to her and passed her a cup, filling it up with juice that might as well be worth its weight in gold. It fizzed with friendliness. Just at the first sip, the sharp sweetness washed away felt more of the last 12 hours of sweltering terror.

“I thought you would get coffee. Or breakfast.” She knew he hadn’t properly eaten since yesterday morning, so he must be starving. She should as well... only she wasn’t. Not because she didn’t want to think about food, but she had been glass since just after dinner. According to her body, almost no time had passed. 

Yonah had been mid sip and was not expecting her to speak to him. He took a deep breath. 

“I'm going to be on a clear liquid diet for at least a week.” He grimaced as he thought about all that juice and broth. “The healing potion can only do so much. Most of its power was used to remove the EverBleeding Curse”

“Does that mean you can’t eat me?”

“Heh. No… the glass form cannot aggravate the injury. Not unless you tried.” He was about to smile but decided against it, as Sophia looked like she wanted to excuse herself if she could only think of a polite way to do so. “But I think a week break from that is in order as well. Unless you want it to be longer. Or never again. I’m perfectly content eating adventurers.” 

Sophia still wasn’t looking at him, but she was no longer one shock away from bolting from his side. Evil he may be, but she could tell he was being truthful. It was certainly something to consider. 

“Just so you know. Eating me won’t work as punishment anymore.”

No. He didn’t think so. It had been fun while it lasted, though it was losing its novelty ever since he started to grow fond of the princess. In fact her distress was getting rather sour. 

Then she looked at him. “And I’m holding you to that week!” She poked him hard in his tender midsection. “If I end up in your stomach again within that time I’ll purposefully re-open the wound! And if it’s gone, I’ll make a new one!”

Yonah allowed himself to smile at the implications and permissions hidden in that statement. 

Best they didn’t remain so. 

“I want to be clear, and I’ll ask again in a week in case you change your mind: it is fine if I… occasionally… eat you?” It was very weird to ask it so plainly. This wasn’t exactly the first time, but this situation was definitely novel. 

It took a minute for Sophia to answer. She looked away and sipped at her juice, only once glancing up at him before gazing back at the garden. 

So well kept. Each plant with its own needs, magical or not, and all maintained by Yonah. From the sturdy sunflowers to the delicate dahlias. The lovely yet finicky ruby rose bushes to the more testy fire breathing snap-dragons. She wanted to learn how to take care of all of them! After only a few visits, she already felt more at peace, more in the right place, in this garden than anywhere else. 

Considering how wrong she felt in Yonah’s stomach and having taken considerably more trips there...

And yet… with all things considered, there wasn’t any harm in it. She just didn’t want to rely on him being conscious to recast her curse in an emergency. She didn’t like being eaten. She didn’t think she ever would. Or should! But, over time, she could probably come to not mind it. 

“Tell you what,” she looked up, “that one week, plus the time it takes for me to master activating the curse. —Uhupup!” 

He had been about to say something. 

She stood up so that she was looking down at him with her best stern diplomat face. 

“That means if I learn it in three days from now, three days are added to the week!” Naw, that wasn’t good enough, “Strike that! These days are added to the time it takes for you to heal, with a minimum week of heal time!” 

Yonah thought that very sensible! He had been planning to teach her that ASAP. 

“After that, ask again, and I'll consider allowing it.” She held out a hand. “Do we have an accord?”

And he shook it. 

She sat back down, waving her now empty cup at him to fill it back up, before leaning against his side, the warmth nice in contrast to the cool breeze. Soft on the outside too, and not nearly as scary. Even though he had been charged with her protection, for the first time since she arrived, she felt safe, truly safe, around Yonah. 

For the first time, she wanted to be here, and he wanted her to be there with him. 

Things were going to work out after all.

**Author's Note:**

> THANKS FOR READING! PLEASE COMMENT!


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